Seepage protector for building walls



Maich 12, 1929.

E. SCHOU SEEP-AGE PROTECTOR FOR BUILDING WALLS Filed Feb. 20, 1928 INVENTOR 10 same to the outside of the building.

Patented Mar. 12, 192-9.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I, EUGENE SCHOU, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T ERLINGWINSNES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SEEPAGE PROTECTOR FOR BUILDING WALLS.

Application filed February 20, 1928. Serial No. 255,836.

This invention relates to improvements in building construction and more particularly to means for the protection of floors and ceilings in dwellings and other buildings of fire proof construction against moisture entering through outside walls into the floor constructionvand damaging the same.

. It is the object of the invention to provide effective means for collecting the seepage of water at every floor level and diverting the It is another object of the invention to construct the protective means in such a manner that a reliable bond is obtained with the surrounding brick work and other building material and that these means are of simple design and easily erectedin the building walls.

lVith these and other objects in view which will appear more clearly as the description progresses, the invention consists of a .pro-

tectorplate of special design and means for securing the same in building walls. 'In the accompanying drawings which form a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a por-. tion of an exterior wall in a building of steel skeleton construction which is not provided with my seepage protector, to illustrate the flow of seepage in a wall of this type.

Fig. 2 is a perspective detail View of a wall and part of a floor adjacent thereto provided with my seepage protector.

Fig. 3 isa plan view of my seepage pro- .tector plate before its erection in a building wall.

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation on line 1-4 of Fig.3.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional plan illustrating the manner of erecting my protector plates at a column of a building.

Fig. 6 is a. front elevation of Fig. 5 from which the brick work is omitted.

Fig. 7 is a vertical section through the parapet wall and roof of a building showing the application of my seepage protector.

Fig. 1 of the drawings illustrates a common method in-a skeleton steel building construction which consists of an exterior wall comprising a combination of four inch exterior brick 1O backed up with hollow backer tile 11. An I beam 12 carries the weight of the wall and of the floor slab 13 which is here illustrated as consisting of a concrete slab 13 covered by a cinder concrete fill 14' in which nailing strips 15 are imbedded and shown in Fig. 7.

which carry the wooden floor 16. The lower flange of the I beam 12 is provided with two angle bars 17 riveted to each other for supporting the front portion of the wall thereon.

I The interior face of the wall is protected by 'a plaster furring 18. In walls of this kind part-icularly, but also in walls which are built of solid brick .a serious condition'arises through seepage of water through the joints of the outer bricks and through the body part of the wall into the interior of the building at the plane where the wall is supported on the steel I beam 12. The path of the seepage is illustrated by arrows in Fig. 1. It will be seen that the seepage of water supplied by rain beating against the face of the wall enters through the joints betweenfront bricks 10 passes partly downward on the face of terra-cotta blocks ll'and partly through the pores of these blocks to the top surfaceof I beam 12 and horizontally intothe cinder concrete fill 15 fromwhere it seeps through concrete slab l3 and the plaster ceilings 19 into the room below. In many cases through shrinkage of materials or vibrations which will cause open or loose joints this condition will be enhanced givingan easy access for rain water to enter the interior of the building and damage to ceilings and plaster is of frequent occurrence. A membrane waterproofing has often beenused to alleviate this condition but the very object of obtaining a solid bond between the various materials is not accomplished thereby. The same conditions exist praticularly in parapet walls on the roof of a building. These parapets are subject to wind pressure and to driving rain from both sides and it is of particular importance to have the materials perfectly onded at the line where the roof slab 31 joins the parapet wall 30 of a building as To remedy these defectsI have invented the construction shown in Fig. 2. While the building construction is shown to be the same as that of Fig. 1 it will be seen that on the upper flange of I beam 12 rests a protector plate 20 preferably made from rolled steel and having faces of 20, 21 and 22 checkered, corrugated or roughened in any suitable manwner, so as to provide a good bond with cement riveted thereto.

upon the top flange of I beam 12 as shown in Fig. 2 placing the upwardly extending flange 21 towards the interior face of the wall and reaching preferably above the adjacent floor level. The downwardly extending flange covers the front edge of the top flange of I beam 12 and is covered on its outside by the face bricks 10. Brackets 23 preferably bent of flat steel bars hold the protector plates in desired position on I beam 12. These bars are bent U shape in their upper portion at 23 to embrace flange 21 of the protector plate. The middle portion 23 extends angularly towards the web of I beam 12 and the lower portion 23 is bent parallel to the web and These protector plates extend the full length of each bay of the building between columns. Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate how flange 21 is bent forward at 21 to lean against the vertical edge of the flange of a column 25.

At parapet walls for protection of roof slabs the protector plate is applied as shown in Fig. 7 where its application is illustrated for a solid brick wall without steel skeleton construction. The stone concrete roof of slab 31 extends preferably to the front layer of bricks 30 and that portion of it which is embedded in the wall is covered by the protector plate 20. The roof slab 31 is further covered by a cinder concrete fill 26 which provides the slope of the roof and this is further covered by the usual tar, felt and slag covering 27.

Between the roof covering 27 and concrete 26 a copper flashing 28 is usually provided along the back of the parapet wall, preferably extending upward into coping 29 which covers the top of the wall.

The flange 21 of the protector plate 20 extends above the upper surface of the cinder concrete and is covered by'copper flashing 28.-

By introducing my p'rotect'or plate into the wall construction in the above described man nor the flange 21 serves asa dam preventing any water, drips or seepage from above the protector plate which flows along the face of the terracotta work or through thesame, to enter the floor slab or the interior of the building. The outer turned down flange 22 prevents water from entering between plate 20;

and thetop flange of I beam 12. All seepage which is intercepted by the protector plate is carried towards the front of the wall where it finds its way to the outside thereof through joints, or will eventually dry out by the greater evaporation at the face of the wall. The roughened orcorrugated faces of the plate 20 are left unpainted to bond readily with concrete or cement mortar wh ch pro tects them while the usually painted upper face of the I beam flange 10 does not form a bond and seepage passes easily through the minute space between mortar and beam. The

-manner of fastening of the protector plate by meansof straps or brackets 23 has the advantage that no holes are providedin the plate 20 throughwhicli water may seep to the brick work below. \The fasteningiof the straps 23 to the I beam-web is a very simple one and the flexibility ofthev straps facilitates adjustment of plates 20to' lie flatand close fitting on the upper flange of I beam 12.

Having thus described myinvention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a vertical brick wall of a building having a-floor joined thereto between two stories of said building, of a preformed structural steel member enclosed within built into said wall substantially at the plane of said floor, said member consist-- ing of a plate extendinghorizontally from a vertical plane near the interior side of said wall to a plane near the exterior side of said wall, a vertical baffle flange extending up wardly at the inner line of said plate to a close to the inner face ofsaid wall and a downwardly extending flange on said plate adapted to deflect water from said plate downwards behind, the exterior bricks of said wall. l

3. The combination with the vertical wall of a building havinga floor joined thereto of a seepage protector forming a part of said wall at the plane of said floor extending longitudinally thereof and consisting of a rigid plate of rolled metal havinga horizontal web and a pair of vertical flanges thereon, one of said flanges extending upwardly near the inner face of said wall from a plane below the level of said floor to la plane above the level of said floor forming a bafile against the discharge of water from said plate the second flange extending downwardly from said web near the outer faceof' said wall and forming means to discharge water from "said web downwardly within said wall.

4. The combination 'with the curtain wall of a building of steel skeleton construction having columns and an I beam joining said columns at a floor, said beam forming-means for supporting said wall and the'floor adjacent thereto, a metallic plate within said wall resting on said I beam and extendinglongltudinally upon the same, flanges on saidplate near the inner and outer faces of said wall, the inner flange extending upwardly flange extending downwardly covering the outer edge of the I tion having columns and a joining said columns at a floor of said bll1ld' I beam between said columns,

flange of said I beam.

. of, said plate. h

' of said I on said plate near the inner top flange of said I beam. 5. In a building of steel skeleton construc- -spandrel beam ing a wall and a floor slab supported by said a metallic plate 11 the top flange beam and extending longitudinally thereof abutting against said columns, flanges and outer faces of said wall, the inner flange extending 'upwardly from the upper plane ofsaid spandre'l beam to the, upper plane .of said floor slab and the outer flange extending downwardly from said plate, forming'a shield beam by covering the out'er edge of theto-p concealed within said wall 0 6. In combination qWlth a wall of a build ing having a floor joined tothe interior side thereof and having Wall and comprising a metallic plate extending longitudinally of the edge of said floor and disposed substantially in the plane theren aving integral, bafile flanges at its longitudinal edges extending above and I .below saidplane and dispos'edrespectively 'adjacent to said floor and to the veneer. s 7. In combination with a wall of a building having a floorjoined to the interior side thereof and having a'veneered external surface, of

a seepage. protector built into said wall and comprising a metallic tudinally. of the edge posed substantially in plate extendinglongiof said floor and disthe plane thereof, said for said a veneered external surface, of a seepage protector built into said building and for fastening to plate having integral baflle flanges at its longitudinal edges extending above and below said plane and disposed respectively adjacent forming a plane. for the discharge of seepage transversely from the inner face of'sald upturned flange to the outer face of saiddownturned flange.

9. An article of manufacture comprising a seepage protector adapted for embedment into the spandrel Wall. of a steel skeleton columns supporting said wall, said protector consisting :of a rectangular Eigd steel plate having preformed integral along one longitudinal edge and upward therefrom along the opposite edge and trans-. verse end flanges onsaid comprising 5.0 opposite edge thereof, the upper the beams and v i elongated and e flanges extendingtdownward therefrom plate adapting it i for fastening to the steel columns of askele ton building; r

In testimonyflwhereofi 'I have signed m 3 'name to this specification this 15th day of EUGENE. scHoU;

February, 1928. 

